Son looks on in horror as dad is crushed by dumper truck

A case has recently made it to court after a tragic accident which resulted in a scaffolder being killed by a dumper truck on site. The incident occurred back in 2013, at a Redrow Homes housing development site.

The scaffolder, Henry Jones was working on the site when a dumper truck reversed into him. Also working on the site was his son, Christopher, who watched on helplessly as the events unfolded in front of him.

Driven by an inexperienced and unqualified driver, the truck was being reversed due to the turning circle being full of building debris. Despite the reversing alarms going off though, the scaffolder was unaware of the truck reversing towards him due to his serious hearing problems. With his back to the vehicle too, it struck the scaffolder who was crushed under the wheels of the truck. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The investigation conducted by the Health and Safety Executive found both sub-contractor WPI Civil Engineering and Redrow Homes guilty of breaching health and safety regulations. To this, the companies pleaded guilty.

The prosecutor on the case, Kevin Donnelly stated: “Both employees and non-employees were exposed to significant risk of harm.”

“There was inadequate management of site activity to minimise the risk of collision between pedestrians and vehicles.”

Redrow Homes defended their site safety though stating that their 31-year safety record is good. The company’s representative added: “It [Redrow] recognises its safety responsibilities and is anxious about those who work on its sites, from the top down.”

“This was a rare and regrettable failure.”

Sub-contractor WPI Civil Engineering also commented on the incident. A representative described that: “It’s a source of enormous regret to WPI that someone lost their life as a result of its failings.”

“It’s a family business and has been hit very hard indeed by the accident.”

“It has been trading for 40 years without a previous conviction and takes health and safety very seriously.”

Sentencing on the case has been adjourned until 9th February.

This isn’t the first case to be noted in recent months though. Another tradesman was recently killed when he was struck by a digger on site. The hero sacrificed his own life in order to push his boss out of the way to safety. Take a look at this heroic story here.

But, with more and more deaths being noted on site, it begs the question: how safe are construction sites?

So, what do you think? How safe do you feel on site? Let us know in the comments below.